HOOVER, Ala. – Tennessee head coach Butch Jones spent a few seconds at the beginning of his address to the media at SEC Football Media Days explaining what “normal” is for a college football program this time of year.

“On average, a third of college football teams change. The dynamics change,” Jones said. “You have to reinvent yourselves each and every year.

“There’s new opportunities for everyone in your football program from leadership to the roles of your players.”

That’s not where Tennessee’s team is this year as Jones said the Vols are replacing nearly half of the team.

“This year half of our roster will be brand new,” Jones said. “That has brought a lot of positive energy, excitement, momentum that surrounds Tennessee football.

“But we are still going through the realities of building a college football program. We’re the only school in the country that has to replace both starting interior lines, both offensively and defensively. We have to replace our entire kicking game.”

There are 32 players on the team this year that will be freshmen, 14 of whom enrolled early and have been a part of the program since January.

“I think the thing where we’ve been aided and benefited from is we have six legacy players whose fathers played at the University of Tennessee and were great players,” Jones said. “We want individuals that have grown up understanding the rivalry with Alabama, with Florida, understanding the traditions that we have at the University of Tennessee.

“But this is a class that wanted to be at the University of Tennessee, and they take great pride and ownership in having that upon their shoulders of getting Tennessee football back to its rightful place among the elite of college football.”

Jones isn’t ready to name a starter yet at the quarterback position, but the options are there for the Vols.

“I’m very, very encouraged by what I’ve seen. There is no timetable to naming a starter. I want them to compete as much as possible because I think competition is healthy.”

On defense, secondary is an area where there’s plenty of experience returning.

“We’re going to lean on them quite heavily,” Jones said. “The evolution of the game of football defensively, one of the most important positions now to the structure of a defense is the nickel position. So really the key for us is finding that fifth defensive back.”

The schedule is about as difficult as it was in 2013. After non-conference games to open the season against Utah State and Arkansas State, the Vols will travel to Oklahoma. The Vols’ opponents from the SEC West are Alabama and Ole Miss.

“There are no weeks off in this conference,” Jones said. “There’s a day-to-day grind of the SEC season, and we’ve got to be ready to go each game each week.”